Potamkin Scholarship at
Law School

Robert Potamkin, a graduate of the Law School's Class of 1970 and chairman
of Potamkin Companies, the automobile/office supply/radio station/real estate
conglomerate, has endowed the Potamkin Scholarship in honor of A. Leon Higginbotham,
Jr. at the University's Law School with a gift of $250,000. The scholarship
will provide financial support to minority law students of exceptional promise
or students interested in civil rights who cannot afford the cost of education
at the Penn Law School.

"Judge Higginbotham had a great effect on the lives of everyone
he touched. And, he had a giant impact on civil rights in this country,"
stated Mr. Potamkin. "My hope for this scholarship is to provide support
to any exceptional student who wants to study civil rights law, or to any
exceptional minority student who wants to study the law. It will be open
for students to carry on in the tradition of Judge Higginbotham's teachings
and writings."

Mr. Potamkin clerked for the esteemed jurist in 1970 on the U.S. District
Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Higginbotham, who died in
1998, taught race and social policy as an adjunct professor at Penn Law
from 1970 to 1993. He also served as chair of the Law School's Board of
Overseers and, for three decades, as a trustee of the University.

Independent Panel:
Gene Therapy

William H. Danforth, M.D., chancellor emeritus and vice chair of the
board of trustees at Washington University in St. Louis, will serve as chair
of an independent review panel that will conduct a comprehensive review
of oversight and monitoring of clinical trials at the Institute for Human
Gene Therapy at the University, according to President Judith Rodin.

Dr. Rodin announced her intention to appoint a committee of ". .
. distinguished research scientists with a wealth of academic expertise
and relevant experience . . . ." unaffiliated with Penn on January
21, 2000. The committee will report directly to her.

Dr. Rodin said that the committee will have ". . . a broad mandate
to conduct a comprehensive review of every aspect of IHGT's procedures for
oversight and monitoring of clinical trials." She spelled out the charges
of the external review panel in a letter to the Senate Subcommittee, the
full text of which appears in
this issue.

"We intend for our research programs, particularly those involving
human subjects, to meet the highest standards," Dr. Rodin said. "Nothing
less is acceptable."

Dr. Rodin said that the external review panel is one of two reviews underway
at Penn designed ". . . to achieve this goal and to respond to the
important concerns raised by federal regulators." She said that ".
. . we have been and will continue to be strongly committed to cooperating
fully with the FDA, NIH, Congress and any other appropriate body as they
review these issues."

President Rodin had previously appointed a committee of distinguished
members of the Penn faculty, chaired by Provost Robert L. Barchi, to review
". . . carefully and completely . . ." all aspects of Penn's research
using human volunteers. She said that the unaffiliated scientists reviewing
IHGT's supervision of clinical trials will operate independently of the
University review of research using human volunteers.

Penn's Way 2000: Up 60% Over
Last Year

Dear Colleagues:

The Penn's Way 2000 campaign has concluded and we are delighted to report
that the campaign surpassed our goal of $300,000 by nearly 30%! This year
over 1600 Penn employees helped raise a total of $388,298 exceeding our
goal by $88,298. The
amount raised this year represents a 60% increase over last year's total.

We are extremely grateful to all of those who participated and contributed
to this year's campaign and we salute all of our colleagues at Penn who
gave so generously to local charitable organizations. Not only will your
gifts make a difference to the organizations of your choice, but the combined
contributions of Penn employees through the Penn's Way Campaign will have
a significant impact on serving the enormous needs of our area's charitable
community.

We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of all of the volunteer
coordinators and facilitators, many of whom were creative in devising their
own strategies to gain greater participation within their units. These people
and their volunteer efforts were key to the reinvigoration and success of
this year's campaign. Special thanks go to Marie Witt, Elizabeth Griffin,
Jonathan Petty, Steve Gagne, Margaret Smith, Trish A. DiPietrae, Barry Stupine,
Carla Hultman, and Jim Galbally. We would also like to commend the members
of the Advisory Committee whose guidance helped shape the campaign, particularly
Rita McGlone, Phyllis Holtzman, Glenn Bryan, Ellen Peskin, Lee Nunery and
Duncan Van Dusen. Finally, we would like to thank Barbara Murray, Carol
de Fries, and Joan Chrestay for putting together all of the different parts
of this campaign and making them work.

More than 1000 of the total participants (or 63%) were entered via their
School/Center coordinators or facilitators in the Campaign's weekly raffles
and grand prize drawing. Of this group, 45 Penn employees across the University
were winners of our weekly raffles and two lucky participants were awarded
the grand prizes, an i-Mac computer and two airline tickets.

As the co-chairs of this year's campaign, we have enjoyed being a part
of such a meaningful effort. We believe that we have learned important lessons
this year and are certain that next year's campaign can be even better and
more successful. We would appreciate your suggestions for how the campaign
can improve next year. Please feel free to send your recommendations in
an e-mail to pennsway@pobox.upenn.edu.
Again, we thank everyone for their contributions to Penn's Way 2000.